Shavuot Marks Giving Of Laws

Shavuot, the Festival of Weeks, will start at sundown today for the estimated 700,000 Jews of South Florida. Shavuot celebrates the giving of the law to Moses on Mount Sinai.

The holiday is one of the three Jewish "pilgrim festivals," along with Passover and Sukkot, meant to recall the Israelites' escape from slavery in Egypt and subsequent wanderings in the Sinai desert. Shavuot takes its name from Passover, which it follows by seven weeks -- a "week of weeks."

Synagogues observe Shavuot with the reading of the Ten Commandments. Some also read the biblical story of Ruth, who converted to Judaism and became the grandmother of King David. The story is seen as a historical parable of commitment to God and the holy law.

In recent years, many synagogues have increasingly held confirmation ceremonies on Shavuot, as their young men and women take on the promise to obey the holy law.